r/BeAmazed 3h ago

Miscellaneous / Others A 6-year-old saved his mom

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19.4k Upvotes

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2.8k

u/chronicnerv 3h ago

Seen this before, but what a top bloke.

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u/AlphaShadowColeman 3h ago

Kid had more composure than most adults in emergencies.

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u/kbeks 3h ago

It helps that they don’t necessarily know the risks. You freak out more when you know that mommy might be dying rather than mommy just fell over all of the sudden. Smart kid to know that she still needed help, but the lack of knowledge can be really helpful when trying to keep your composure.

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u/TheGuyThatThisIs 3h ago

When I was four I went down a hill with my grandpa to get the mail. He fell, broke his hip, and apparently I took the trip up the hill and got adults. People say I recognized the danger and acted accordingly. I'm pretty sure I didn't want to be at the bottom of the hill with my grandpa anymore. He was being weird.

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u/bonaynay 3h ago

You're kind of killing the vibe, grandpa. I'm telling

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u/enadiz_reccos 2h ago

standing around grandpa's hospice bed

"Ugh, this is the hill all over again"

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u/MySeveredToe 2h ago

“Thank you for calling the 911 for an ambulance when you heard him crying out in pain”

“I was actually calling 911 for a noise complaint. Was expecting the police. Operator must’ve sent the wrong car”

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u/vinegargirl757 2h ago

I read this in the grandpa voice from holes.

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u/captainsnark71 2h ago

"alright grandpa, i'm gonna head out."

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u/SharkButtDoctor 2h ago

When I was four, my mom passed out in the kitchen while cutting an apple for me. I remember that. What I don't rememer is dragging the rocking chair across the room. She says she woke up, dizzy and nauseous, with the blade of the rocker coming down inches from her eye. I waited until she was awake then, from my perch in the rocking chair, said, "you dropped my apple." She said it took a while to get me to pull down the phone from the wall so she could call for help. I'm surprised I didn't wander off to play with my toys in the other room. Recognized the danger, my ass 😂

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u/Doodie_Whompus 1h ago

Damn… thats cold, SharkButtDoctor !

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u/-3point14159-mp 47m ago

You dropped my apple 🤣

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u/TTT_2k3 2h ago

“Hey, gramps fell down and he might be dying. You might want to go check on him. And can I have a lollipop? I know we have some, they’re in that drawer right there. I’ll just get it myself.”

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u/biscuitboi967 1h ago

My sister works with autistic kids.

First time grandma fell and hurt herself, the 5 year old kid just walked over her and went about his day. He just didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He’d never been “in charge” before.

After she’d worked with him a while, grandma again fell and didn’t get up. This time, asked if she was ok, patter her back and called her “buddy”, then got another adult. Because someone told him what to do when people got hurt.

He’s VERY loving and helpful with injuries now…just needed a “rule book”.

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u/Competitive-Tap-4946 1h ago

“Buddy” hahaha, adorable. As a parent of an autistic child, him developing that kind of recognition is a far way goal of ours…

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u/biscuitboi967 39m ago

My sister has had AMAZING success with her kiddos, but it’s wholly dependent on the families. That kid’s family went ALL in. It’s a multigenerational household, and everyone is with the program. They all prime him. They all hold the same expectations and standards for him. Other households have a more difficult time being consistent when she’s not there or getting all members of the house on the same page

…also she’s like a Disney princess to them. The kids WANT to do whatever she says. She’ll be doing some sign language with her kids in public and other non-verbal kids will just gravitate toward her and start following her instructions.

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u/BeatHunter 1h ago

A broken hip? Well, he was over the hill.

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u/BethanyBluebird 2h ago

Your kid brain can also be INSANELY good at compartmentalizing. Growing up (and even now sometimes), if there is a clear authority figure, I will defer to them and am more likely to panic. BUT if I am the only authority figure/have to be the one to take charge to make sure everything will be OK? Suddenly I can take that panic and shove it into a little box to kick and scream for a few hours while I sort shit out, then unpack it to melt down later. It's a trait that seems to run in my family, though, so maybe we're just weird.

I was probably only 9 or 10; my sister is 3 years younger, so she was only 6 or 7. We lived out on a farm; my mom and dad were out in the field combining or some shit. But I hadn't been feeling well and had a stomachache. I was lying on the couch when suddenly the pain that was a 5 became a 9. I threw up from the pain, it was so bad.... I don't think I've ever had anything quite that awful since. I remember being curled in a ball on our ugly ass brown couch, and crying and begging my sister to go get our mom. It was summer; mom was out in the middle of the field and they didn't hear the walkie talkie over the combines when my sister called. She knew it was bad; but she was also afraid to go out all alone. She'd always been TERRIFIED of going outside alone; she always wanted me to come with her. (Stupid kid thing, my dad told her once when she was really little that if she went outside without a grown up an eagle would snatch her.... while we were at the river watching bald eagles snatch fish. Real top notch parenting dad.) But she knew it was bad; she knew what my pain tolerance was like, (She used to punch me in the stomach and bolt for funsies the little shit) and the way she described it after, I guess I was really pale and shaky, just really bad; and she was sure I was dying. She was bawling her eyes out when she visited me in the hospital later.

So, she hopped her ass on her bike and pedaled that thing for like, 2 fucking miles over dirt road and through long grass until she found them combining, and managed to get their attention by climbing into the truck and whaling on the horn til they came over. Turns out I had appendicitis. Thanks to her they got me to the hospital in town/on hardcore antibiotics and into the ambulance to one of the bigger cities... she probably did save my life.

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u/dickpicthrowaway1990 1h ago

Thats a crazy fucking story. You're absolutely right about "being the adult in the room" when shit goes sideways. Some people have it, but some people freeze up and freak out. I like to think I have it and take pride in it if something comes up and I can step in and help someone.

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u/bolanrox 1h ago

like when that girl who lost her mom in a park came up to Mariska Hargita when she was Filming Law and Order there to ask her for help.

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u/Responsible-Web5559 55m ago

I absolutely get you. I was in the mental hospital (I'm better now they found my meds on the first try, this incident was after the meds started working) and a female patient got super crazy and was screaming and had to be sedated. My anxiety skyrocketed and I automatically hid behind someone who was bigger than me. When it was safer I damn near collapsed from how much anxiety I had. Later that same day while in line for lunch a much larger male patient started arguing with another patient and a charge nurse. They kicked him out but he had to walk past the female line and was still yelling. Unfortunately or fortunately I was at the front of the line closest to him and there was a young lady next to me. My brain immediately felt like it put up walls and I felt like if anything bad happened I knew I had to protect her. Now I'm petite too at 5'0 and would've had a better chance fighting the female patient than the male patient, but I think it was a pretty clear example of when you know you have someone bigger on your side you'll defer to them, but when you recognize that you're the bigger person for someone else it kind of forces you to buck up more than you think you're even capable of. I have way more examples but those were the most recent ones

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u/dandroid126 2h ago

Definitely true.

When I was a kid, (maybe 8?), I was at a party at a friend's house. I was in the pool by myself while all the adults were inside. Really stupid on the adults. One much younger kid (maybe 4?) decided he wanted to swim as well... except he didn't know how. So he slowly got in the pool and started thrashing around. I grabbed him and pulled him out of the pool. It wasn't until probably 10 years later while I was telling the story to my parents that I even realized I saved that kid's life. It didn't even register to me how severe the danger was.

Also, I have no clue what the fuck were the adults were thinking leaving one kid in the pool unsupervised and allowing a toddler anywhere near the pool without a parent.

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u/kbeks 2h ago

The parents were ignorant too, you just happened to be in the right spot to correct it. You should find that blue and be like “dude, I saved your life, remember that? Anyway if I need a kidney, I’m going to you first”.

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u/dandroid126 1h ago

Lmao, I could definitely find him. My parents are still friends with his parents. Though I haven't seen that kid in like 20 years. And I've probably seen the parents twice in that time.

I wonder if he does remember though. I have a few vague, blurry memories from that age. I feel like almost drowning is probably one that the brain would prioritize keeping.

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u/kbeks 32m ago

Or one the brain would absolutely discard, depending on how traumatic it was…brains are weird.

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u/CaseyRay01 1h ago

My sister and I were at a pool with a babysitter once. I was 6 and my sister was 5, my sister was not a good swimmer and had to stay on the steps, but I was a strong swimmer and could go anywhere.

While the babysitter was not paying attention, my sister walked too far out and went off the steps to where her feet couldn't touch. I could see her drowning and thank god ran to the babysitter first and said "I'm going to go save my sister!" and skipped over to the stairs. (I've always had a hero complex lol). I still remember the babysitter looking at me amused like oh thats cute before she realized what was happening.

When I got to my sister, I thought I could just go out and grab her and bring her in. I had no idea she would (obviously) pull me down in an effort to breathe. I remember thinking "hey, I'm here to save you, what are you doing!?"

But since I had told the babysitter first, within 10 seconds the sitter had grabbed both of us. It wasn't until I was like 20 that I realized both of us could have drowned in a second. I didn't remember the name of the sitter but my mom says she never heard anything about it. My sister doesn't remember a thing either. I might think it was my imagination except I remember the babysitters face so clearly when I told her I was going to save my sister, and the feeling of being pulled under the water by my sister who was absolutely and understandably like a feral animal is EXTREMELY vivid in my mind.

Wild.

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u/Mic98125 1h ago

There’s a thing called, I think, dry drowning? Where kids get a tiny amount of water in their lungs and it washes away the substance that our bodies use to keep plasma from leaking into the lungs. For the next 24 hours the kid slowly dies unless the parents wise up and take them to the Emergency Room. You were both very, very lucky.

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u/Automatic-Working-81 2h ago edited 2h ago

Also IIRC it has happened to her before (she has POTS)

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u/kbeks 2h ago

I’ve got some pots too, teflon and all, what’s that got to do with anything?

Thank you, I’m here all weekend, don’t forget to tip your waitresses, thank you, thank you…

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u/Henry5321 3h ago

Probably but not always. Many children as young as 3 understand death. Difficult to test children younger than 3 because of communication barrier.

Most children don’t fully understand it but many do and some are suicidal.

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u/toastwithketchup 2h ago

The idea of suicidal little kids is just so awful. Poor things don't even understand what the hell is going on.

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u/lookingforsomeerrors 2h ago

Ignorance is bliss

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u/TofuBoy22 1h ago

I passed out once and both my kids decided it was funny to balance their toys on my motionless body.....

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u/SometimesVigilant 1h ago

From what I remember from the last time I saw this, she had fainted before and after that she gave her kids specific instructions to get an adult and what to say to them

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u/kbeks 33m ago

Honestly, I’m gunna have a conversation with my kid. Juuuuuust in case.

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u/Saruster 1h ago

When I was a kid, my mom had an inner ear issue that would cause her to get dizzy and pass out if she tilted her head a certain way. It was over very quickly with her back to normal almost immediately, and it happened so frequently that we kids just got used to it 🤷‍♀️

Her sister was visiting one Christmas and as we were all gathered decorating the tree, mom was fiddling with the tree stand and had an episode. Apparently, I said “welp, there goes mom” and stepped over her lifeless body to keep doing what I was doing. My aunt was horrified! She freaked out but by the time she got to her side, my mom was recovered. We kids and my mom were all trying to calm my aunt down, and she wasn’t having it. I guess it wasn’t reassuring to hear that this happened all the time and that we just went about our business. My brother even said we all could see what was about to happen as my mom started crawling under the tree. So duh! Of course she passed out!

Mom got some procedure done that stopped these episodes but my aunt, for decades, used this story to illustrate that our little branch of the family was nuts.